Titus

Titus (30 December 39-13 September 81) was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81, succeeding Vespasian and preceding Domitian. A Roman general like his father, who seized power for himself in 69 after the Year of the Four Emperors, Titus quelled a rebellion in Judaea in 70 and terrorized the local people of Jerusalem, burning the city and the Second Temple to the ground (a Babylonian Torah described him as having sex with a whore atop a Torah scroll as the temple was destroyed). Titus was briefly emperor from 79 to 81, and his brother Domitian succeeded him on his young death at the age of 42.

Biography
Titus Flavius Vespasianus saw military service in both Germany and Britain. At age 27, he accompanied his father, the General Vespasian, to suppress a revolt in the Roman province of Judaea. When Emperor Nero died in 68 CE, there was a brief civil war, from which Vespasian emerged victorious. He was declared emperor in 69.

With his father now ruler, Titus was left to pacify Judaea alone. At the head of four legions, he laid siege to Jerusalem, employing classic Roman tactics. He rode forward in person to reconnoitre the walls, led reserves to counter sorties by the defenders, and terrorized his opponents by crucifying prisoners within sight of the beleaguered city. When it fell, Titus ordered wholesale destruction of the city and slaughtered the population.

After Jerusalem, Titus was granted a triumph in Rome and an arch was erected in his honor. Titus briefly succeeded his father as emperor before his early death at age 42.